


Enemy Number 1

by MasterofPotatoes



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: AU where Shadowy and Laser are the same person but Ven is his twin brother instead, Canon Divergence, Dark Plaza AU, This is mostly focused on the KOs and Shadowy, everyone shows up and effects the plot though, might add more characters later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-01-23 22:29:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21327715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MasterofPotatoes/pseuds/MasterofPotatoes
Summary: What if Carol didn't stop KO from attacking P.O.I.N.T.?
Comments: 35
Kudos: 85





	1. Dark Plaza

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> Sadly, the series has come to an end, and I'm sad to see it go, but I'm glad I could watch such an amazing show! And who knows, there might be other things that could be used to continue the series, like comics, if Ian decides to do that.
> 
> Aside from that, this is an idea I've had even before Dark Plaza was announced, so I figured I'd share this AU with the rest of the fandom. (I also mixed it with the AU that Shadowy Figure is Laserblast, but is Venomous' twin brother. I'm fine with them being the same person, but I think this story works best with this dynamic.)
> 
> Also for this, KO and TKO practiced being PKO in secret and didn't tell anyone about it, so this is the first time everyone's seeing PKO.
> 
> OK, reader, let's start the story!

This was bad. Like, really, really bad.

P.O.I.N.T. was going to destroy the plaza to get to the glorb tree, Mr.Gar couldn't stop them, and everyone else was just going to let it happen.

But KO couldn't just stand there. He had to do something, anything, to stop this. Even if it meant going against the most famous hero team in the world, fighting heroes he's looked up to for as long as he could remember, he'd do it to protect the people he cared about.

KO charged at the wrecking ball, unable to hear his own shouting over the pounding of his heart in his ears, feeling TKO's eagerness to come out to fight, and if he had to, he'd let his alter ego do just that.

Suddenly, a pair of familiar arms wrapped around KO, stopping him from going any further, and making his anger falter for a moment. It was Carol, his mom, and she was telling him that this wasn't the time for fighting. His friends, Rad and Enid, joined in too, talking about how they'd have his back. He knew they meant it, of course they did, but as the wrecking ball drew closer, their voices faded into the background, and KO couldn't stop himself.

He tore away from Carol's hold, and began sprinting full tilt again towards the wrecking ball again. KO cocked his fist back as it buzzed with his and TKO's energy, ready to strike.

"KO, no!" Carol yelled, but it fell on deaf ears as KO launched his power fist, destroying the wrecking ball right before it could hit the bodega.

For a moment, everyone was frozen in place, staring at KO in shock as the echo of the blast rumbled around them. KO's chest heaved, his vision faded and he blacked out while standing up as his wristbands grew spikes, but he wasn't giving up control or fighting to maintain it. There wasn't any need for that, since he and TKO wanted the same thing: to drive P.O.I.N.T. away from the plaza.

With a burst of golden energy, the spikes retracted as the boy's wristbands and headband turned blue. With the synchronization between KO and TKO completed, PKO opened his golden eyes, ready to fight.

Once she broke out of her stupor, Foxtail glared at PKO, grumbling with a hint of disappointment in her voice, "So, that's how it's going to be." but then she straightened up, and barked, "Restrain him!"

As soon as the order left Foxtails mouth, the P.O.I.N.T. foot soldiers charged towards the boy.

Right at the last minute, PKO jumped up into the air and started to float. It took a second to stabilize himself, but it was still an improvement over the first time TKO and KO fused.

After the surprise wore off, the foot soldiers pulled out their blasters and, after making sure they were set to 'stun', began shooting at the boy.

PKO managed to dodge the shots before launching golden power fists towards his attackers, striking a few of them and making the others flee for cover.

However, once all the foot soldiers that charged towards PKO were down, more started to replace them.

"KO, stop! Please!" Carol shouted, but he didn't listen. She didn't know if he couldn't hear her because of the destruction, or if he was just ignoring her.

Foxtail could feel sweat accumulating on her brow. Just what was Carol feeding this kid?! She called out to Elodie, who was still in the now wrecking ball-less crane, "Elodie! We need you to get out there!"

Elodie nodded, "Yes, ma'am!" before jumping into the air and readying an arrow, aiming it at PKO.

PKO saw her out of the corner of his eye, and was able to barrel roll out of the way of the arrow at the last minute. The fact that he was so close to being hit that he could hear it whiz past him was terrifying, but he didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Elodie! You don't have to do this! I don't want to fight you!"

Elodie landed on her feet, as graceful as always, and aimed another arrow at PKO. "I'm sorry, KO. But, I suppose we don't have much of a choice here." She said, a hint of sadness in her voice, before she shot the arrow.

As it flew towards its target, the arrow split into multiple smaller ones. PKO darted around wildly trying to dodge them all, but one managed to hit him and knocked him onto his back.

PKO could feel the wind get knocked out of him, and when it returned, his TKO-side grew stronger along with it. Once he got back onto his feet, he began firing multiple volleys of power fists towards Elodie, who quickly got out of the way, and landed next to Enid.

"Enid, what's wrong with KO?" She asked, the witch-turned-ninja.

"KO has an alter ego named TKO. He's the physical manifestation of all of KO's negative emotions and is extremely powerful. TKO probably took control because of KO panicking about you destroying the plaza." Enid explained, then commented as she looked closer, "But, he looks different. What's up with that?"

Elodie snapped, "Alright, first off, I was just following orders! Secondly, it doesn't matter why he looks different. How do we stop him?"

Rad chimed in, "We hug him while telling him he's loved and appreciated." wrapping his arms around himself for emphasis, before jumping out of the way of a wayward power fist.

"Really?" Elodie rose an eyebrow at Enid, who shrugged, and sighed, "Alright then."

She waited until PKO's back was turned, focused on the other P.O.I.N.T. operatives, then jumped up and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Now that the power fists had stopped, Rad and Enid joined Elodie in hugging PKO. Then a fourth pair of arms wrapped around the boy, as Carol decided to helped them.

"YOU ARE LOVED AND APPRECIATED!" The four of them chanted in unison, trying to bring KO out.

The synchronization between KO and TKO wavered, the headband even changed to red for a second. But then he saw the P.O.I.N.T. foot soldiers advancing again, and the headband snapped back to blue.

He managed to break out of the hug, knocking the group back to the ground, shouting, "LET ME GO!" he turned to them, "Guys, TKO and I are working together to save the plaza, why aren't you helping me?"

Carol pleaded, "KO, you have to listen to me! You have to calm down, this is only causing more problems!"

"But, mom-"

"No buts!"

After a moment of contempltating, PKO sighed in defeat and started to float to the ground obediently.

Suddenly a red energy beam shot him in the back, sapping his power and temporarily knocking him unconscious. As the boy fell, a couple of the unharmed operatives managed to get a large cage into position where PKO landed in it without hitting the sides, then slammed it shut.

Foxtail stepped forward, carrying the disempower ray, "Pack him into one of the containment tanks, and take him directly to P.O.I.N.T. Labs." she barked.

After standing there in shock for a moment, Carol yelled with both horror and fury, "FOXTAIL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"I'm sorry Carol, but KO has shown an incredible amount of natural turbonic power, which has never seen before. We need to take him to P.O.I.N.T. Labs to see why he's able to do this." Foxtail explained, even seeming a bit reluctant to do this. She did care for Carol and KO, but this was was for the greater good, right?

A massive argument started between Foxtail and Carol, with the teens eventually joining in, but during this they ended up ignoring a still unconscious PKO.

However, PKO soon came to, still light-headed, and saw his mom, as well as the rest of his friends, yelling at Foxtail to let him out. He was confused for a moment, before his mind finally cleared and he realized he was in a cage.

KO and TKO started to panic, as all their memories of being locked in the cage in mindscape began flooding back. Though most of it was from TKO, which made sense since he was trapped in the cage longer, the feeling KO had when he was forced to watch his friends get hurt while stuck in his own mind returned full force.

With this surge of helplessness, PKO's headband burned off they desyncronized and TKO took full control.

Purple electricity started to surround him, but he wasn't as powerful as he usually was. Luckily it seemed that since both he and KO were in control as PKO, he didn't lose all of his power.

_'I don't need all of my powers to kick these losers' butts.'_ TKO thought to himself with a chuckle as he flexed his fingers.

He cocked a fist back and punched the cage, leaving a large dent in one of the bars. The loud noise caught everyone's attention, but no one was able to move fast enough to stop TKO from hitting the bar again, this time breaking it and make a large enough gap for him to escape.

TKO tried to fly, but was only able to do stay in the air for a few seconds with some struggling, just long enough to get away from the cage. He stumbled a bit on his landing, but quickly regained his composure and got into a fighting stance.

Foxtail and the foot soldiers surrounded him, ready to fight him. Meanwhile, Carol and his friends got ready too, since they figured they'd have to jump into action too, even if they didn't agree with Foxtail.

After whipping his head around to look at all the people he was against, TKO realized he was horrifically outnumbered, which typically wouldn't be a problem, but he was weakened.

_'Okay, maybe I should retreat and wait to get some of my powers back.'_ He thought, as a few sparks jumped from his fists '_Besides, I can always come back and whoop'em into next week later.'_

He knew he had to get out of there and fast, he just needed an escape route. As the foot soldiers approached, TKO's eyes locked on the forest beyond Foxail, his mom, and his friends. It was his best shot.

He fired a power fist at them, all managing to jump out of the way, which was easier than usual since it was now slower due to his weakness. With his path clear, TKO flew as fast as he could into the trees, and with a great amount of effort, he was able to get deep enough to get out of sight from the plaza.

However, when he couldn't go any farther, he started falling with his momentum carrying him forward as he did so, causing him to skip a couple times on the ground before he finally stopped, landing next to a small hill and some rocks.

TKO groaned, breathing heavily as he forced himself to sit up, all his energy completely drained. He had to keep moving, P.O.I.N.T. was guaranteed to find him here without any cover.

But then, he turned his head slightly and saw that there appeared to be a burrow just large enough for him to get into, partially hidden by the rocks. He hesitantly checked it, and it was empty, with no indication that it had been used in quite some time. As he looked deeper, he noticed that it bent off to the side, in a way that anyone just looking into the hole couldn't see.

_'Well aren't I lucky?' _TKO thought to himself sarcastically, as he definitely didn't want to crawl into some random hole in the ground. But he didn't really have much of a choice in the matter.

He went in as far as he could go, silently hoping that it wouldn't collapse since he didn't like the odds of him escaping it with his tired, weakened state, and squirmed around until he faced the entrance.

As he waited there, his exhaustion at overexerting himself hit him full force, and he slumped over, deciding to rest his eyes for a moment.

When TKO opened his eyes he realized he was in the mindscape, specifically right outside his house, with KO pacing back and forth worriedly, but the rushed over to his alter ego when realized he was there.

"TKO! What the heck was that?! You could have hurt mommy and our friends!" KO yelled, more scared than angry.

The edgy boy rolled his eyes, "They were fine! I had to get us out of there somehow." he stated, before huffing, "Besides, with my powers weakened, it probably wouldn't have hurt them much anyway."

KO glared at him but didn't comment, instead saying, "Okay, well, maybe I can take control and we can find a better place to hide out than some burrow." he then started flickering, like he was trying to leave, "We could try to go home, or... Enid's place, or... Rad's...house...or..." he stopped, looking at his hands with a look of confusion and worry.

The two boys looked at each other, realizing that this meant they were stuck in the mindscape for who knows how long. The two of them looked over to the large, static filled screen, only able to hope that they'd be alright until they could regain control.

* * *

Boxman, Venomous, Fink and all the boxbots were in the main office watching the chaos unfold in the plaza across the street. All of them were munching on popcorn or bolts, excitedly chatting to each other, except for Venomous who was just watching with an unreadable expression on his face.

Boxman nudged him, which seemed to pull the professor out of his thoughts, and Venomous turned to look at him, "Hey, PV, you okay? I figured you'd be a bit more, you know, energetic about watching P.O.I.N.T. fighting those plaza twerps." he asked, visibly concerned.

"Oh, I'm fine Boxy. I just... need to make a phone call." Venomous told him, standing up and quickly heading out of the room.

Boxman watched him as he left, his worry not ebbing away, before he sighed and went back to enjoying the show.

Meanwhile, Venomous made a beeline to his office, looking around to make sure there was no one who could eaves drop before he closed the door behind him. He picked up the phone on the desk and dialed a number he knew by heart, then waited as the phone rang.

When it finally stopped, his call went straight to voice mail, and Venomous let out a sigh of relief.

"Good. He's probably already on his way."


	2. Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carol, Enid, Rad and Elodie are trying to find KO before P.O.I.N.T. can, but they're joined by someone who they thought would be long gone by now.
> 
> Meanwhile, KO and TKO try to come up with a plan, but when they finally wake up they're found by one of the last people they want to see right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> Sorry for taking two months to update! I meant to update it much, MUCH earlier, but I was busy and when I wasn't I had no motivation/had writers block.
> 
> But, now this chapter is done! I'll try to update again sooner, but I can't guarantee it.
> 
> Enjoy!

The whole time they were unconscious, TKO fought to regain control.

From what they understood, time worked differently in the mindscape when they were both in it, considering when they were playing video games after forming PKO for the first time it felt like hours, but in reality it was only a few minutes. So, by this logic, they should actually be waiting longer than expected.

But TKO didn't care. He needed to get out as soon as possible, he couldn't waste a second. He did NOT like the thought of only being able to sit by hoping that nothing bad happens, and he_ hated_ that it was actually happening to him right now. He stood outside his house, struggling to take control with nothing happening, his anger growing every second he was unsuccessful.

Eventually, he reached his limit and slammed his fists on the floor with a scream of frustration. He sat as he glared daggers at the static filled screen, almost like he was trying to will it to let him take control.

"Hey, TKO, do you want some cake?"

TKO turned his attention to KO, who was happily holding out a plate with a large slice of chocolate cake on it to him with a big smile.

They just stared at each other, neither of them changing their expression or saying anything, if anything TKO only looked more annoyed as time passed.

After a few seconds, after realizing TKO wasn't going to take the offered cake, KO sighed, "TKO, there's a good chance that we're not going to be able to gain control for a while. Even if either of us could gain control, we don't know what to do, and probably won't have our powers back." he then put his free hand on TKO's shoulder, "With time being different in here, we can plan out what to do and how to make everything alright again."

The alter ego looked at him skeptically for a moment before snickering, "Why are you suddenly all about planning and preparing right now? Figured you would want to take control as soon as we can considering, you know, that was your original plan?" he then glanced at the cake and snatched it out of KO's hand, "And gimme that, all this craziness is making me hungry."

"Well, that was the plan _before_ we learned neither of us could gain control." KO stated as TKO was stuffing his face, purposefully placing more emphasis on 'before', causing the alter ego to roll his eyes at him. Then, KO shifted his gaze away, "So, I started thinking, 'What would Enid and Rad do?' 'What would Mr. Gar do?'..." he then sat next to TKO, tears welling up in his eyes, "'What would mommy do?'"

He then turned to his alter, "I'm really scared, TKO..."

TKO's face softened, looking at his feet as he put his hand on KO's shoulder hesitantly as a form of comfort, "I know." he muttered "Believe me, I know..."

* * *

Back at the plaza, Foxtail had sent out a search teams to find KO, returned those who were injured to the P.O.I.N.T. medical bay, and ordered backups to continue the demolition.

Carol had tried to talk sense into her, but there was nothing she could do to convince her. Besides, Carol had an important mission to complete.

Protecting her son.

She set out with a search party of her own, consisting of herself, Enid, Rad and surprisingly Elodie.

The forest got thicker the deeper they went in and, aside from some brief run-ins with the search teams sent out by Foxtail as well as the wildlife, they were pretty much alone.

"KO! Come on out, peanut! Mommy's gonna take you home and I'm gonna make sure nothing bad happens to you!" Carol yelled out reassuringly, looking in in every tree, crevice or hole that her little boy could potentially hide in.

Rad lifted up rocks using his finger beam as he shouted, "KO, where are you? Come on man, I'll do the thing that you like." He then started looking under pebbles that were far too small for KO to hide under. He did find Crinkly Wrinkly though, which was cool I guess.

Enid and Elodie were jumping from tree to tree for a more aerial view so they could, hopefully, find KO faster. 

However, once Enid realized they were out of earshot of the other two, she turned to Elodie and couldn't help but ask, "So, Elodie, why are you helping us? Shouldn't you be leading a P.O.I.N.T. search party, or helping with the demolition of the plaza?"

She noticed the blonde flinched at the last part, "Alright that last bit might have been a little harsh, but you get the point." Enid admitted.

Elodie turned away, "I didn't want to destroy the plaza, Enid. I was just following orders." she stated, though there was still a hint of regret in her voice.

"Orders that you knew were wrong!" Enid snapped.

"I know, I know!" Elodie responded, "But I had to. I'd be thrown out of P.O.I.N.T. Academy, and I wouldn't be able to become a real hero for people to look up to." she then continued when she noticed Enid giving her a look, "I planned to fix the plaza when I became an actual P.O.I.N.T. member, I swear!"

A moment of silence passed over the two as they continued looking, before Elodie broke it, "I wanted to make up for what I did, and I DO care. I care about KO... and I care about you."

A small half-smile made its way onto Enid's face, but she couldn't respond since Rad yelled up at them.

"Hey! Have you guys found anything yet?"

Enid and Elodie jumped down and the purple-haired ninja responded, "No, nothing yet. I'm guessing you haven't found anything either?"

Rad shook his head, "Nope. I hope the little guy is okay. Who else am I going to show off to when I'm supposed to be working?" he said.

"Hey kids, I think I've found something!"

Hearing Carol call out cause the three teens to hurry over to her, eager to see what she was talking about. A large burrow in the side of a hill was before them, the perfect size for a young, certainly scared, boy to crawl into. Everyone waited with baited breath as Carol leaned in to look inside.

She could see something moving inside, and she could feel her heart pounding, mentally begging the President of the Universe for it to be her son. The leaves used for bedding rustled, and...

A small t-rex ran out, squawking at everyone it saw before it disappeared into the underbrush. Everyone stared after it in disappointed sadness, though none were sadder than Carol's.

"... I guess we have to keep looking." she muttered, trying to hold back her tears.

She just wanted to find her son.

"Don't worry Carol. We'll find him no matter how long it takes." Enid assured, placing her hand on Carol's shoulder comfortingly.

Rad did the same, placing his hand on Carol's free shoulder, "And we'll be with you every step of the way!"

Elodie stepped up, "All of us are behind you." she said.

"Yeah." They all turned to the sudden voice, as the figure stepped out from the shadows, "We're all here for you."

A large smile lit up Carol's face as she saw the newcomer.

"Eugene."

* * *

To pass the time, KO and TKO started playing videos game (avoiding the ones that had to do with Chip Damage, since it was still a sore spot), settling on a generic beat-em-up game, and eating hot cheebos. However, they still managed to come up with a plan in between rounds and snacking.

Eventually, they narrowed it down to two options: Carol and Mr. Gar.

Carol because, well, she was their mom, and she would protect them no matter what. On top of that, she was a strong and incredibly smart hero, so she'd definitely be able to keep them safe while this whole thing blew over.

Gar was because he'd already be avoiding P.O.I.N.T. like the plague, and would hopefully have some good methods for doing just that. Also KO (and TKO, but he would never admit it) saw him as the dad he never had, what with him offering fatherly advice and doing father-son activities with him, like playing catch or taking him out to watch a sports game.

However, there was one lingering worry that hung over both of their heads, that if they went to either their mom or Mr. Gar, P.O.I.N.T. would go after them and just cause them more stress.

"What if they can't do anything anyway?" TKO snarled as he mashed the buttons on his controller, "It'll only cause them more problems. Problems we can deal with ourselves."

KO also mashed his buttons, but less aggressively, and asked, "How? They're strong heroes, and if they couldn't do anything then we'd definitely need help."

TKO scoffed as the words 'win' flashed across the screen, "We beat them up of course, or if you're too chicken to do it I'll do it myself!" he then smirked as he beat on a barrel until it was thoroughly smashed, "I'd love to get even with those jerks."

"That might cause more problems though! They're the biggest and most famous hero organization in the world! They definitely have more tricks up their sleeve that we haven't seen." KO exclaimed, as his character blocked a strike from an enemy, "Also, they have a way to give their heroes turbo power too, and from what I've seen they could even give you trouble."

TKO grumbled unintelligibly under his breath, since he couldn't really argue because he'd seen the power Sparko showed during the mega football game when he went turbo. Sparko wasn't even the strongest hero they'd seen at the secret meeting, and there was a good chance that they weren't the only ones in P.O.I.N.T. who were using glorbs to achieve poser (in his opinion) turbo forms.

Deciding he wanted to change the topic, TKO turned to KO after they finished the level, "Hey, why don't we try to get back in control?" he asked as he stood from his bean bag chair, extending a hand to help KO up.

KO nodded, taking the offered hand and standing, "Sounds good! Maybe we can get out now, and get help." he said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." TKO huffed and rolled his eyes.

They both closed their eyes and focused on regaining control. Their bodies flickered, steadily becoming more rapid like they were racing, but it was to no avail.

"Dang it! Still nothing!" TKO growled out, before he rubbed his chin in thought, "Maybe if we try together as PKO, our combined efforts could let us out."

KO couldn't help but smile a bit, "I figured you'd want to do it all by yourself. Who are you, and what have you done with TKO?" he joked.

"Oh, shut up!" The alter ego grumbled, "Do you want to try my idea or not?"

"Yeah! Let's go!"

The house dissolved around them, leaving them floating in a white void with purple and blue chains surrounding them, the only other thing in there with them being the static filled eye-screen in front of them. As the two of them focused together, the static flickered and warbled, before the image changed to the inside of the burrow they were hiding in.

KO and TKO could feel the exhaustion of their body now that they were actually controlling it. PKO struggled to open his eyes, not even wanting to try to get up, but he could hear people outside.

It wasn't hard to figure out that it was P.O.I.N.T. foot soldiers who were looking for him. He could hear them calling to each other and stomping around as the searched.

"Has anyone found him yet?"

"No, not yet. But- wait, there's a hole over here."

PKO felt his breath catch in his throat as he look towards the other end of the burrow, and could see a shadow blocking the light at the entrance. He was in no condition to fight, he'd have a hard time getting away from one of them, let alone more. All he could do was lay there and hope to Cob the soldier didn't look too deep.

After what felt like an eternity, the shadow moved.

"Never mind. He's not in there."

"Well, keep looking! We're running out of daylight, and once it's dark we'll have to pull back!"

He could hear the soldiers moving away from him, and PKO released the breath he was holding as he closed his eyes again.

KO and TKO sighed out of relief too as he screen returned to static, but instead of returning to TKO's house the static from the screen started to leak out and spread. The two of them shared a look of panic, before screaming and trying to 'swim' away from the encroaching static.

However it was only their surroundings that were consumed, and soon the white void was swiftly swallowed whole by the static. The boys hugged each other out of fear, bracing for whatever happened next.

Everything went black in an instant, and the boys were left floating in a dark void.

Suddenly, after a few seconds of pure nothingness, TKO's living room soon flickered into existence, and it was like gravity kicked back in. Both of them fell to the floor, luckily it wasn't too far of a drop, and carpeting cushioned their fall a bit.

The hero and the alter ego glanced around, before letting out shaky sighs of relief. Then they noticed they were still hugging, and TKO immediately floated away with a disgusted 'ugh' pretending that he totally wasn't just as scared as KO was a few seconds ago.

"That was... weird." KO mumbled, staring at the floor.

TKO huffed, "I was NOT scared! I was hugging you because YOU were scared, you baby!"

"I was talking about what just happened." KO corrected, before adding, "It's nice to know you care about me though!"

The alter ego stuttered for a second, but when he couldn't come up with a retort he growled with sparks flying off of him, his hair fluffing up and eyes almost glowing.

KO chuckled nervously, before waving quickly, "Bye TKO! See you later!" he said before he managed to flicker out of the mindscape, right before TKO launched a powerfist that crashed into the wall behind where he was sitting a moment ago.

Honestly, the boy was very lucky he was able to gain control when he did, otherwise he'd have to fight with a very upset TKO if the angry buzzing in his head was any indication.

Unlike what felt like just seconds ago when he was PKO, KO was able to open his eyes with very little effort. However, it didn't matter much, since he just saw pitch black when he opened his eyes anyways. He turned to look out to where the entrance of the burrow was, and could see faint streams of moonlight coming in.

_'That whole thing that just happened must have been our body falling asleep with no one in control.'_ KO thought, _'Note to self: make sure either me or TKO are piloting the body before sleeping.'_

KO was hesitant to go out, since it was nighttime and he wasn't usually outside after dark, especially not alone. But, he didn't really have much of a choice, since now might be the only chance he had to get to his house, find Mr. Gar, or find any type of safety he could get, and his body was getting sore from being forced into a stuffy, uncomfortable hole in the ground.

Also, a bathroom and some food would be appreciated right about now.

Carefully, the young hero crawled out of his hiding place, fighting his aching joints as he did so. It seemed that while he had regained most of his strength, his powers were still out of commission for the most part.

As he finally exited the hole, KO took in his surroundings.

There was a cooling breeze that rustled the leaves above him, the only sound besides the faint chirping of crickets and KO's own breathing. The grass was soft underneath him, and fireflies glowed as they flew around the forest. Aside from the bugs, the only light was from the full moon that was visible through the trees in front of the boy, showing that the night was still young.

KO sat there for a moment, just wanting to enjoy the serenity of the moment after the chaos and stress of the day. Perhaps TKO was calmed by the scene too, since the humming in his head has ceased. The hero closed his eyes with a small sigh, letting himself relax.

However, a sense of dread started to pool in his stomach. The crickets stopped chirping and the leaves stopped rustling, leaving him in an almost deafening silence. He opened his eyes and slowly started to look around, not wanting to make any sudden movements that could catch anyone's, or anything's, attention. As he did so, he noticed that all the fireflies had gone out, almost making him feel like he was alone aside from the pit in his gut telling him he certainly wasn't.

He'd much rather feel like he was alone right now. But he could feel TKO's faint humming start up again, though it was more uneasy that aggressive this time.

Only the moon remained the same, as he looked behind himself into the dark hole he crawled out of, wondering if it would be a smarter, or safer, move to just crawl back in and wait until morning.

Suddenly, a shadow covered him, and he quickly whipped around to see what had blocked his only light source.

A silhouette was standing there with shadowy tendrils flowing around it. KO felt his heart drop when he recognized the person standing there.

"My, my KO. You've had quite the busy day, haven't you?"


	3. Chapter 3 Preview

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> This is to let you know that this story isn't dead! I was struggling with what I wanted to put into this chapter, how it would play out, and my ideas for another OK KO AU kept pestering me (will probably write something for it in the future). But, after writing and rewriting this chapter, I think I've finally got it!
> 
> So, this is a little teaser for what I have planned. It'll be deleted and replaced by the actual chapter once it's done.
> 
> Let me know what you think of these, because I might make them a regular thing if you guys like them.
> 
> I'm going to try to get the chapter out sometime next month at the latest.
> 
> I hope you all stay safe and healthy during this pandemic!

KO stood up so fast he made himself dizzy for a second, then quickly readied himself into a fighting stance, "Shadowy Figure! What do you want now?!" he demanded, trying to hide his nervousness.

Shadowy Figure chuckled as he stepped, or floated to be more accurate, closer to KO, until he was right in front of the boy, "Oh, silly child, isn't it obvious?" he asked.

"P.O.I.N.T. certainly has set their sights on capturing you. So as someone whose more experience with this sort of thing, I recommend you lie low for a while."

"Yeah, I got that one already." KO stated with a huff, finally shifted his stare away from Shadowy Figure, instead choosing to focus on the grass at his feet, "But..."

"Don't worry KO, I know just the place where you can hide out." his tone sounded like it was supposed to be reassuring, and he had a smile to match.

He'd never consider listening to Shadowy Figure, unless you count the time he did before he knew Shadowy was a villain, but he was desperate.

He... He was helpless

* * *

"Don't worry, Carol. The second the sun rises, we'll go out and we'll find him." Gar reassured her, placing a hand on Carol's shoulder.

She looked at the fridge, and saw all of KO's drawings covering it. She knew she had to get her baby home, to keep him safe, but she needed to find him first.

As they were getting up to go to bed, there was a knock on the door.

Whoever it was, the way they were knocking made them sound desperate.

* * *

"Progress report, soldier." Foxtail ordered.

The intern nervously stuttered out, "He-He's not quite ready yet, Ma'am." but, when she was clearly unamused, quickly added, "But, we mi-_will_ finish everything before the week is over."

Foxtail looked out the window, and smirked, "I think it's time we gave them a proper field test."

Elodie felt her heart sink into her stomach, "Oh no."

* * *

KO sat up quickly as his adrenaline rush woke him up, and immediately started whipping his head around to figure out where he was.

He was... home?

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> If you have any comments, questions or criticisms, feel free to share them below or at my blog: https://captainchocolatechicken-fluffles.tumblr.com/
> 
> Have a great day!


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